Marfa on Monday
Robin Hamilton
Robin Hamilton writes:
Conditions looked very good with top of lift forecast to be up over 20,000' AGL and average lift of 600-800 fpm. Winds were forecast to be 12-18 mph out of the west with possibly lighter up high.
We had a fairly slow start, launching after 1pm with Rich and Larry out ahead of myself. I got to tow for first time behind Greg's 150hp mega trike - it is utterly amazing. I think he should be piloting it in bad-assed motorbike leathers. It is that BAAD.
Meanwhile, I didn't get any thing good and strong coming off tow and had to dribble out of the airport at around 2,000' AGL in zeros and the stiff breeze, finally getting another 1,000' in a weak/broken climb by now 3-4 miles downwind. I took that precious height and headed north, cross wind towards the foothills of the Davis Mountains, until I got down to around 400' AGL, harness open above a small rock outcrop where I got a 400fpm save that took me up to 11,000'MSL, glad that all the extra clothing and O2 were perhaps going to get used this day.
Clouds were forming over the mountains running up towards Alpine (about 32km out from Marfa) and the big, fat lift was becoming exceptional and consistent at 600-800 fpm, with climbs up to 16,500' msl. The westerly tailwind breeze hadn't backed off much with altitude but the clouds were lining up to the east towards Marathon and beyond so I continued out that way.
Conditions and the view of this part of rugged, mountainous west Texas were spectacular. I was doing 80-90km/h over the ground on glides and the climbs were ranging up to 1500 (yes 1500) fpm with cruising altitude limited only by the 18000' MSL restriction. I passed Marathon at around 70km out and eventually turned another 30 km past Marathon at the beginning of the rocky badlands. It had taken under 2 hours to cover the first 100km, including the slow start.
Into wind progress back towards Marfa was into a 18-26km/h headwind, that slowed me down but the regular strong climbs back up to 16,000-17,000' MSL meant that I could make steady progress. I did get low (4,000' AGL) at one point between Marathon and Alpine but after warming up a little and some groveling, found another tractor beam to get me back up over 16,000'.
After that it was fairly straightforward - pointing the glider up the course, pulling in for the worst sink (some over -1000 fpm) and hanging on for the rowdy 600fpm elevators. The headwind was persistent and if anything seemed stronger over the last 30-40km section towards Marfa. But how good are these Marfa conditions?
My last climb on the edge of the mountains before the flats some 30km out from Marfa at 6.15pm was 1000fpm back up to 16,000'. Got back to the airport before 7 after around 5 hours in the air for an out and return distance of around 200km (~40km/h). Not bad for a late start and the breeze. It seems the legend of this place is well-earned.
More to come the rest of this week.
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